Canadian Tour - Second Victory For James Hahn

Submitted by CanTour Communications John Berkovich

NAYARIT, Mexico – James Hahn fired a four under par 68 to capture the Riviera Nayarit Classic by three strokes over Eduardo Herrera.

Hahn finished at 19 under 269, earning US $20,000 and his second victory of the season.

Herrera’s 69 left him alone in second at 272, two ahead of third place Jose Trauwitz and Darren Griff who both shot 69.

Sharing fifth at 275 were Andy Walker (67), Matt Marshall (69) and Paulo Pinto who managed a 72.

Jon McLean shot 66 to finish T-8 at 276 along with Oscar Serna (67) and Brock Mackenzie who had a 68.

“This is a huge win and a real confidence booster going into Q-School,” said Hahn.

“I came down here without a practice round because I was in a Nationwide (Tour) qualifier that ran into Tuesday.

“I was the last guy eliminated in the playoff and as soon as it was done I was off to the airport.”

Unlike Saturday when he made four consecutive birdies to start his round, Hahn began the final round with a shaky par.

“I missed the green short side and ended up in the bunker on the first,” he said.

“Eduardo (Herrera) was on the green with an eight-footer for birdie. He missed his putt and I was able to get up and down.

“If he had made it and I had missed, it would have been devastating.”

Hahn, Pinto and Herrera, playing in the final group, all birdied No. 2 but a Herrera birdie at No. 5 cut the lead to one.

Unfazed, Hahn birdied the seventh to reclaim his two shot lead and maintained it when both he and Herrera birdied No. 9.

Pinto, who had two birdies through his first eight, double-bogeyed No. 9 to fall back.

With the contenders down to two, Hahn began to pull away on the back nine.

After a birdie at 10 and a bogey at 11, Hahn birdied both 13 and 15 while Herrera could do no better than six straight pars through that stretch.

“When I birdied 13, I had a three shot lead and I knew they would have to catch me,” said Hahn. “There was no way I was going backwards.”

With both players bogeying No. 16 and Herrera birdieing 17, the only difference it made was the margin of victory.

“Even though Eduardo made a nice 30-footer at 17, I knew that all I had to do was hit it in the fairway at 18 and that would be it,” added Hahn.

In repeat performance of Saturday, he birdied every par-5 in his round and was 18-under on the par-fives this week, making 16 birdies and an eagle.

“The par-fives were definitely the key,” Hahn concluded. “The fairways are wide and you can hit it off the tee as hard as you can.

“The tees were up all week so I treated them as if they were par-fours.”